DMBM217000 - Payment processing and accounting: missing and alleged payments
Overview
Direct Taxes payments
VAT Payments
Compensation Claims
Stolen Cheques
Overview
Missing and Alleged Payment (MAPS) cases generally occur as a result of a customer receiving a reminder for payment of a particular liability where they believe payment has already been made but it doesn’t appear to have been credited to their record.
This guidance advises you of the processes to be followed should a customer contact you to advise that they have already made payment.
Direct Taxes payments
Note: If the payment was for a Tax Credit overpayment, please refer to the guidance in DMSS6640 section 4.0.
Initial action
Where a customer contacts you to advise that they believe a payment has already been made you should follow the guidance in the Initial Action helpcard (PDF 84KB) to carry out an initial search.
If you can’t find the payment from the initial search and the customer is still of the view that the payment was made to HMRC then they will need to supply further information.
Further information required
To progress the search the customer will need to provide us with more information to allow HMRC to trace the payment. At this stage the onus is on the customer to provide evidence that the payment was made to HMRC. The additional information we need will depend on how the customer made the payment and may require the customer to obtain copies of information from their bank or building society.
Cheque (PDF 45KB)
Bank giro or at the Post Office (PDF 44KB)
Bacs Direct Credit, internet or telephone banking, Faster Payments or CHAPS (PDF 68KB)
Debit/credit card made by Telephone Payment Service (TPS) (PDF 49KB)
Debit/credit card over the internet using BillPay (PDF 29KB)
Direct Debit (PDF 46KB)
If you still can’t find the payment using the additional information then the enquiry will need to be submitted to the appropriate team for further investigation as detailed in the helpcards.
You should not refer an enquiry to the appropriate team without completing an AZ750 form and obtaining the additional information as detailed on the helpcards. You can find the AZ750 can be found in SEES > Forms and letters > DMB Banking > AZ750 Missing/alleged payment.
VAT Payments
Initial action
Where a customer contacts you to advise that they believe a payment has already been made you should follow the guidance in the Initial Action helpcard (PDF 55KB) to carry out an initial search.
If you can’t find the payment from the initial search and the customer is still of the view that the payment was made to HMRC then they will need to supply further information.
Further information required
To progress the search the customer will need to provide us with more information to allow HMRC to trace the payment. At this stage the onus is on the customer to provide evidence that the payment was made to HMRC. The additional information we need will depend on how the customer made the payment and may require the customer to obtain copies of information from their bank or building society.
Cheque (PDF 41KB)
Giro payments (including bank giro) (PDF 22KB)
Bacs Direct Credit, internet or telephone banking, Faster Payments or CHAPS (PDF 42KB)
Debit/credit card made by Telephone Payment Service (TPS) (PDF 47KB)
Debit/credit card over the internet using BillPay (PDF 29KB)
If you still can’t find the payment from the additional information then the enquiry will need to be submitted to the appropriate team for further investigation as detailed in the helpcards.
You should not refer an enquiry to the appropriate team without completing a VAT997 form and obtaining the additional information as detailed on the helpcards. You can find the VAT997 can be found in SEES > Forms and letters > DMB Banking > VAT997 Remittance trace request/action sheet.
Compensation Claims
In exceptional circumstances, e.g., if all other avenues to trace the payment have been exhausted, it may be necessary to ask the customer to obtain a copy of the paid cheque or bank statement as evidence that the payment was made.
Some banks and building societies charge for providing this information so you may receive a request from the customer for compensation to cover the cost of the bank charge.
If you do, pass the details of the claim to the DMB Complaints team using the stencil available on the DMB Complaints page. They will consider the claim and arrange reimbursement if due.
Stolen Cheques
A stolen cheque case may be discovered when you are dealing with a missing or alleged payment enquiry. Most stolen cheque cases are discovered when a copy of the stolen cheque is received from the customer and it is clear that the name of the payee has been amended from HMRC to another name or title.
Stolen cheque cases can also come to light when the customer tells you that their bank or building society has advised that a cheque sent in payment has cleared, but it was not paid to HMRC.
Where a cheque is sent through the post there is a minor risk of theft. Occasionally, fraudulent encashment of a stolen cheque has occurred. In some cases HMRC has to bear the loss because the law concerning stolen cheques and misappropriated funds is not straightforward.
IMPORTANT: If a stolen cheque case is identified all actions must be given absolute priority.
Action to take
Please take the following action:
- advise the customer to report the apparent theft to the police and their bank or building society
- explain that you will be submitting the case for further investigation, and ask the customer to supply a replacement payment, preferably using an electronic payment method
- prepare a report of your discussion
- note IDMS ‘STOLEN CHEQUE CASE’ and defer further action for five working days to allow time for the replacement payment to be received.
- complete a stolen cheque report, available on SEES > Forms and Letters > DMB Banking > Stolen cheque report, and send this to the Banking 2, TAG Team mailbox with ‘Stolen Cheque Case’ in the subject line.
- print a copy of the stolen cheque report and keep this with the copy of the cleared cheque from the customer
For VAT cases please ensure that all relevant information is either captured or scanned to Electronic Folder, indexed and linked accordingly.
Banking 2 TAG will report the case to Royal Mail for them to investigate.
When completing the stolen cheque report please ensure that the:
- date the cheque was posted
- town/city where the cheque was posted
is recorded, as without this information Royal Mail will be unable to investigate the case.
